


Wistful Future

by TheFoolsKnight



Series: Lbotw Countdown Event [5]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotions, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, M/M, Marriage, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26125162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnight
Summary: Alec and Magnus talk to their closest friends, and later each other, about their potential marriage and the future they want with each other.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane & Catarina Loss, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Lbotw Countdown Event [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890874
Comments: 8
Kudos: 85





	Wistful Future

The sun was setting over the spires of New York, casting rich orange light onto the city below. Alec sat on the rooftop of the Institute, winding down after a long, heated training session. On the street below, leaves fluttered about as the cool, crisp wind blew around.

“Phew, that was the best training session I’ve had in ages,” Jace said from beside him, stretching his arms above his head. Alec shot him a fond exasperated smile.

“‘Course you’d say that,” he muttered, more tired than anything else.

Jace grinned at him. “I see being a father is taking its toll on you.”

“I slept two hours last night,” Alec admitted with a chaste smile. “It’s difficult but he’s worth it. Max.”

“Must be nice, having a family,” Jace mused, sounding wistful. “I wonder what Clary would think about having kids. I mean, we’ll have to get married first, obviously, otherwise Jocelyn will have my head.”

Jace laughed, but Alec turned his face away at those words. He must’ve noticed, because the laughter died away and he asked,

“Hey, you okay?”

Alec bit his lip consideringly, then blurted out, “I asked Magnus to marry me.”

Jace was silent a moment, then asked, “What did he say?”

A small smile appeared on Alec’s face. “He said yes, of course. But… he wants to wait until the law is changed.”

Jace frowned. “What? What does the law have to do with this?”

“If Magnus and I get married, the Clave won’t recognise the marriage as legal,” Alec explained. “I won’t be allowed to bear the runes. Even if we get married, I’ll still be a bachelor in the eyes of the close.” Alec rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t blame Magnus, of course. He just wants the best. It’s just… changing the law will take a while.”

“You want to be the one to change it, don’t you?” Jace put it forward so simply, as if it were just another mundane task, as if it wasn’t the law they were talking about.

“Of course,” Alec said. “I’ve wanted to change it since our vacation, when I realised that the law wasn’t built to protect people like Magnus. We as Shadowhunters are meant to protect, but if that protection doesn’t extend to everyone in this world, then there’s no point in it.”

Jace clapped him on the back. “I’ll help you whatever way I can.”

Alec smiled at him. “I knew you would.”

“So what’s the plan? Are you going to stage a revolt?” Jace asked, leaning towards Alec.

Alec’s eyes widened. “No! No revolt!”

“Then you‘ll infiltrate the Clave’s ranks and pull the stupid law apart?”

Alec blinked. “Something like that.”

Jace grinned. “Great. You’re next in line for Head of Institute anyway. You can-“

“No,” Alec said. “As a Head, I can only suggest new laws. The ones capable of changing them are the Council, Consul and the Inquisitor. Consul, I could try after Jia’s term is over. Inquisitor is out of the question - they don’t really have a term, and Dad’s doing well so I doubt they’d replace him anytime soon. Until then, I’ll have to focus on getting a seat on the Council.”

Jace blinked, astonished. “You’ve got all this planned out, don’t you?”

Alec smiled and nodded, his face turned up to the open sky. “I just want to get married to him the way he wants, no matter how long it will take. He’s- I just love him so much, you know?”

Jace shot him a smile. “I know. And Alec?”

“What?”

“I better be your  _ suggenes.” _

“Of course.” Alec grinned at him. “Can you keep it quiet for now, though? It’s not official yet, and I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

Jace shrugged. “Okay. I’ll be able to tell them someday, though. Right?”

“Right.” Alec nodded, and they settled into a comfortable silence.

“You’re awfully quiet today,” Catarina commented.

She was sitting across from Magnus in the living room, her skin a lighter blue than usual and somewhat blurry around the edge - hardly surprising, considering that she was just a projection in the living room. Physically, Catarina was still at that Godforsaken Academy, where the mundanes, Simon included, were to face Ascension in two weeks.

“Just thinking,” Magnus said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. His other hand was curled around Max, his and Alec’s newfound baby, who was fast asleep in Magnus’s lap.

Catarina frowned. “Please you’re thinking good things. You have a baby now. You can’t do any crazy stuff now-“

“First of all, I wasn’t planning on doing any crazy stuff,” Magnus protested. “Secondly, I was thinking of something else entirely. It’s just-“ Magnus bit his lip, then blurted out, “Alec asked me to marry him.”

Catarina’s eyes grew very wide and she nearly dropped her teacup. “What did you say?!”

“Yes, obviously, but…” Magnus hesitated, then continued, “I told him I wanted to wait for the law to change. I don’t want the Clave to see him as lesser because he’s married to me, and because their law doesn’t recognise our marriage as real. I just don’t want his life to be difficult because of me.”

Magnus’s voice went very low towards the end, and he heard Catarina sigh.

“Magnus,” she said softly, and he couldn’t help but look at her. Catarina was smiling at him, her teacup dangling between two fingers. “It doesn’t look to me like you’re making his life difficult. It’s the contrary, in fact. Everytime I’ve seen you both together, you looked so happy. Like it was enough just to be at each other’s side.”

“It is,” Magnus said. “It is more than enough. I’d gladly die by his side, if I could. But… I do want to marry him.”

And then, very quietly, he added, “No one’s ever asked me to marry them before.”

“He sure is something, huh?” Catarina said, resting her chin on top of her palm, having discarded her teacup somewhere. “I’m happy for you, Magnus. Really, I am. I hope that damn law gets changed soon.”

Magnus smiled at her. “Me too, Cat. Me too.”

“I’m telling you now,” Catarina said seriously, leaning forward. “I’m your best woman. Don’t let anyone else claim that spot.”

“Don’t you worry,” Magnus said with a grin. “I won’t.”

Catarina smiled, but something must’ve happened on her end because she looked away for a brief moment, then turned back to Magnus and said with a sigh,

“I have to go. Some stupid Shadowhunter decided to hurl a mace into the wall in the middle of the night. They’re calling me for damage repair.”

Magnus frowned at that. “Make the walls fuschia while you’re at it.”

Catarina shot him a wry smile. “Fashionable  _ and  _ makes a Shadowhunter mad. You’re really rubbing off on me.”

Magnus grinned. “I have that effect on people.” He blew her a kiss and waved his fingers at her. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

Catarina waved back, and in the blink of an eye, faded away.

Magnus opened the main door to the apartment and wasn’t surprised to see Alec standing outside, his hand outstretched halfway towards the doorknob.

“Hey,” Alec said, smiling brightly at the sight of him, his eyes lighting up ever so beautifully.

“You’re here early,” Magnus said, leaning against the open door.

Alec shrugged. “Mom let me off today so I could be with Max. Speaking of which, where is he?”

Alec looked over his shoulder, looking for Max, but Magnus stopped him.

“He’s fast asleep,” he said. “Has been for over an hour. I don’t think he’ll wake up for a while.”

“Oh,” Alec said, and his shoulders relaxed. “Okay then.”

He stepped into the house, walking past Magnus, and dumped his bag of weapons in one corner. Magnus watched as Alec took off his gear jacket, hanging it up on a hook in the wall. He walked to him and put his arms around Alec’s waist, nuzzling his face into Alec’s neck.

“Did you have dinner?” Magnus asked.

“Not yet,” Alec said, turning his head into Magnus’s and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. “I was thinking we could eat together.”

“Of course,” Magnus said with a wide smile. “Whatever you want.”

After a quick dinner of Italian, during which Magnus insisted on lighting candles as they ate simply because he was in a romantic mood, they curled up on the couch, some random movie playing on TV.

“I told Jace about our unofficial engagement,” Alec said, fiddling with one of the buttons on Magnus’s shirt. Magnus looked at him - he was resting his head against Magnus’s shoulder - and said,

“And I told Catarina.” He grinned. “She was very happy to hear the news.”

“So was Jace,” Alec added with a wistful smile. “I keep thinking about it, you know. What I’ll be like, to get married.”

“So do I,” Magnus admitted. “I personally want a three tiered cake with two mini figurines of us on top.”

Alec laughed. “That sounds nice. Maybe we could have one of those big chocolate fountains, too?”

They went back and forth like this for a while, talking about their plausible marriage in hushed tones, their hands intertwined between them. Magnus couldn’t help but remember a time when his life was much different, when his heart was slowly closing to the world no matter how much he didn’t want it to. Until Alec stepped in and stopped that, sending a flood of emotions into his heart, the good and the bad - happiness, want, love, heartbreak, peace, sorrow, and someday, grief. But for now, Magnus pushed away the thoughts of the inevitable grief that would find him, and focused on Alec - Alec here, Alec now, the warmth of his body against Magnus’s as they talked on the couch, his sweet voice tethering him to the mortal world.

Later, when it was late into the night and they were lying together in bed, Alec with his head on Magnus’s chest and arms around each other, Alec asked,

“Where do you want to get married?”

Even as sleep dragged him down, Magnus knew exactly was his answer was.

“The beach,” he said. “My first home was near one. The sound of waves, no matter where, reminds of that place.” He smiled into the dark. “It would be nice to hear the waves and think of something else for a change.”


End file.
